I ordered business cards a week ago for one our new employees. We have an established relationship with a mighty fine printer that unfortunately takes a mighty fine amount of time to complete an order. This particular new employee whose title will now be Director of Impatience came running over to me everyday asking if his business cards had arrived which meant everyday I had to come up with another reason as to why the process of placing raised print on hard stock took so long. Then came the day of the most important networking event - which absolutely required the widespread dispersing of the Director’s 3½ x 2 inch recyclable identity. Unfortunately, I had run out of excuses with the man who couldn’t run out of patience because he had none to begin with. And thus, I had to drive out to the printer and pick up the cards hot-off-the-press, literally.
MapQuest estimated that my destination was 40 minutes away. I estimated that would mean one and half hours that I would have to work late to catch up. A bit unnerving but I tried to enjoy the mid-November drive - windows open, crisp breeze, trees, fall leaves, barren fields - wait, where was I? This business-to-business errand turned out to be a field trip to the actual lumber yard. Obscure but an interesting opportunity - other than a brief segment on “Sesame Street” on how paper was made and a few scenes from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” I had never actually seen the inside of a paper mill. Of course I barely had time to look around. I was up against the Director’s strict deadline. At the very least though, I can now say I’ve driven the dirt roads and dodged the flying wood chips of a lumber yard. As for the Director of Impatience - well he now has in his hands 500 chances to get a paper cut.